Death finally calmed down from his hysterical laughing fit while I stood beside him with a complete deadpan. Usually, I would feel incredibly pissed off that someone was laughing at my misfortune. But I knew he wasn't laughing at my cruel situation, but at how I reacted in my time of adversity.
"You were so badass!" Death heaved, trying to regain his breath. He wiped a stray tear of laughter from his eyes, his lips forming a wide smile.
"Thanks," I replied, though I didn't sound grateful.
Not that I wasn't, of course. I was just distracted by how adorable, I dared to say, it was to see the incarnation of death laughing like a kid who saw the funniest thing his young eyes had ever witnessed.
But Death wasn't a child; he was probably the same age as civilization. This was probably the first time he simultaneously saw something so brave and stupid.
"It is." Death must've read my thoughts, or my thoughts were sprawled all over my face. "Though I wouldn't call it stupid, just something else entirely."
"I don't know what to feel about that."
Death hummed.
"Take it as a compliment, I guess?"
We were now back in the darkness of the In-Between. Even though this place was pitch-black with no light source, I could still fully see Death and my hands. Though I think I've already established this before, haven't I?
"You seem glum," Death said. "Did I offend you?"
I shook my head, faking a smile.
"I just…" I hesitated. "I'm just wallowing in self-pity, I guess."
"Why so?"
"Do you need to ask that?" I looked pointedly at him. "Isn't what you witnessed enough justification?"
Death was silent for a few seconds.
"So you are angry?" He frowned. "I didn't mean to—"
"No!" I said it a little louder than I intended. "No," I repeated, softer this time. "I mean, yes! I am angry. But not at you. I'm angry at myself."
"Why?"
"I allowed myself to be treated so lowly… Like I was mere vermin. Heck, even lower than that. I could've fought back—"
"You did."
"Yes, I did. But I could've done more to defend myself. That outburst when they were talking sh*t about me and my family wasn't enough for them to stop treating me like trash.
"Seeing this memory again made me realize that this pivotal incident caused a shift in my personality. To some, it might have been just an embarrassing memory they'd hide in their minds. But for me..."
"It was the start of your rebel phase." Death supplied.
I nodded.
"Yes. If I were a character from a book, it would be part of the story where I transformed from a Mary Sue to a wild child."
"You're quite informed with your literature archetypes, huh?" Death looked rather impressed with me.
I chuckled, closing my eyes.
"I learned to love literature and its other aspects because of a friend."
"And I assume that friend is the one you mentioned before?" Death asked. "'Sunshine', was it?"
I nodded.
"I wonder how she is right now…" I said it absentmindedly before looking at Death with a decisive glint in my eyes. "Tell me, Death. How much time has passed since you reaped my soul in the forest?"
"A while."
"A while?" I repeated. "What are you, a glittering vampire?"
"Here you are again with your pop culture references." He rolled his eyes.
"You find it amusing, though."
Death laughed—not the obscene howling he did a while ago, but a soft one. A laugh that made my heart flutter.
"You're right."
"So what's the numerical value of 'a while'?" I asked, returning to the topic.
"Does it matter?"
"It does!" I insisted. "I'm worried—"
"About Sunshine?" He raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you should have thought about the people you'll leave behind before killing yourself, Evangeline."
I looked helplessly at him before shifting my gaze to the ground.
"You're right," I replied after a while. "There's no point in worrying about what I left behind now that I'm gone. I chose this after all."
"I'm glad you understand." Death said. "Anyway, let's move forward to the next stage of your young and short life: high school."
"What?" My stormy gray eyes widened.
"Is there something wrong?"
"N-no…" I stuttered. "I was just…"
"Surprised?"
I nodded.
"But didn't that camping trip signify the end of your middle school life?"
I nodded once more, feeling rather stupid.
"It's nothing," I shrugged. "If I were to be honest, I was looking forward to seeing my memories of this part of my life."
"Was it a memorable one?"
A giggle escaped from my lips instead of giving Death a direct answer.
"Ah," Death sighed. "Young love."
"How did you know?" I gasped. "Wait, why do I keep forgetting that you probably know every single detail about my life, and you're just merely showing my memories to me out of—Actually, why are we even doing this?"
"You ask me that now?"
I shrugged.
"I remembered you said that it was a needed procedure," I said slowly, remembering Death's previous words. "But why? It's not like we can change anything by going to my past, right?"
"It's the Almighty Deity's way of mocking you about the futility of life."
"Almighty— Is that the proper way to refer to god? And are you serious?"
Death laughed.
"Of course, I'm not." He said. "I just made that name up to see if you'll eat it. And you did."
I glared at him and opened my mouth to say something, but he continued.
"What evil god gives you a painless death but ultimately tortures you by showing your past horrible decisions in life before sending you off to the Other Side?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me."
Death shook his head, smiling in amusement.
"Going back to what you previously said," Death reverted the topic even though I completely forgot what I said before getting distracted. "You're giggling like a teenager in love just now. I didn't need to know your whole life just to read your non-verbal cues."
"Oh, I was a bit confused for a moment, but I remember asking you that."
Death sighed.
"Let's proceed, shall we?"
"Wait a minute!" I abruptly interluded. "You haven't answered my other questions—"
"Tell me, Evangeline." Death continued, completely ignoring me. "How did your high school life go?